This invention relates to a cylinder block assembly to which engine components may be mounted and to an internal combustion engine including the cylinder block assembly. The invention also relates to a method for fabricating an engine and mounting engine components thereto.
Cylinder blocks are in general extremely expensive to fabricate. In particular, where a cylinder block must be customized for particular applications e.g. to receive engine accessories, costs increase greatly. Moreover, the degree to which cylinder blocks can be customized is in general limited.
Known cylinder blocks are not easily configurable externally to suit different vehicle or static installations during high or low volume production which can compromise optimum manufacturing flexibility. However, in engines which are of generally similar construction but are to be installed in differing installations, for example, road vehicles or static installations such as generating sets, the cylinder blocks may require specific external configurations to accommodate engine mounting points and transmission housings dedicated to the intended installation. The aforementioned problem may be particularly acute where the cylinder block is manufactured in volumes of less than 50,000 per annum.
Where customization is possible, it is in general necessary to machine the cylinder block on at least one of a side, front or rear wall, thereby giving rise to significant additional costs.
UK Patent specification No 2342391 describes an engine having a rear end flange having apertures for mounting ancillary units. Adapter plates are provided to facilitate customization of the engine, each plate being machined to co-operate with a given aperture and dimensioned to facilitate mounting of a given size of ancillary unit. Use of the adapter plate obviates the need to machine the flange. Further, different adapted plates may be used to fit and mount different size pumps on the same aperture. As both faces of each adapter plate are machined or dimensioned for a specific task, the flexibility of use if a given plate is extremely limited. Moreover, each plate is designed to mount only a single ancillary unit. The present invention sets out to overcome one or more of the disadvantages of the prior art.
In accordance with one aspect of this invention, a cylinder block assembly for an engine comprises a cylinder block having a sidewall provided with apron attachment points, and an apron mountable on said sidewall. The apron is adapted to receive engine components, and the apron comprises a tray-like cover.
According to another aspect of this invention, an apron for mounting to a sidewall of a cylinder block of an engine comprises a tray-like cover adapted to receive engine components,
In accordance with another aspect of this invention, a cylinder block assembly for an engine comprises a cylinder block having a sidewall provided with apron attachment points, and an apron mountable on the sidewall. The apron is adapted to receive engine components, and the apron being dimensioned to substantially conform with the sidewall of the cylinder block.
According to yet another aspect of this invention, a method of fabricating a plurality of customized engines is provided, each of the customized engines having a different arrangement of engine components. The method comprises the steps of (a) selecting a common cylinder block for the customized engines, the cylinder block having apron attachment points on a sidewall thereof; (b) selecting a customized apron corresponding to the customized engine to be fabricated; (c) attaching the customized apron to the sidewall of the cylinder block; and (d) mounting at least one engine component corresponding to the customized engine to be fabricated on the customized apron